CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th April, 2019) Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro described the country's withdrawal from the Organization of the American States (OAS) as liberation from the "US ministry of colonies."
On Saturday, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said that Venezuela was officially no longer a part of the OAS.
"We became free of the US ministry of colonies, a tool of interference as well as disrespect for democratic principles and international law. Our Bolivarian and independent Motherland says 'Goodbye' to the OAS," Maduro wrote on his Twitter page on Saturday.
Maduro announced the decision to leave the bloc in 2017, supporting immediate withdrawal of the country from the OAS, although the procedure usually takes two years.�The OAS did not recognize Maduro's new presidential term that began on January 10.
Venezuela is currently facing a sharp political crisis with opposition leader Juan Guaido having proclaimed himself as the country's interim president. The move was recognized by the United States and more than 50 other nations, while Maduro described it as an attempted US-orchestrated coup.
China, Russia, Bolivia, Turkey and numerous other nations recognize Maduro as the only legitimate president of Venezuela.
